


At the Bus Stop

by professortennant



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - No Curse, F/M, Family, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-09
Updated: 2015-12-09
Packaged: 2018-05-05 21:56:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5391791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/professortennant/pseuds/professortennant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It started at a bus stop, a conversation about books and magic, and a first meeting that Belle can't forget. Or that one where Belle meets Bae at a bus stop and maybe falls in love with his father at first sight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At the Bus Stop

"What are you reading?" 

Belle looked up, startled that anyone at the bus stop bothered to pay any attention to her. Storybrooke wasn't exactly a town rife with public transport, but the few buses that did run thankfully took a fairly direct route from Belle's apartment to her job at the library. 

She'd had a car once, before. Before her mother got sick, before her father got sick, before the medical bills started rolling in and she needed to liquidate her assets to keep everything afloat and the medicine coming. 

Her father was still depending on her to make enough money to pay for the hospice care he had elected to have. But Belle didn't want to think about that now. 

She turned her attention to the young boy in front of her. He had a round, boyish face, inquisitive eyes, and a bright red backpack on. His features looked familiar, but she couldn't quite place them. Nonetheless, Belle wouldn't let an opportunity to discuss books pass her up. 

She smiled. "It's a book called The Rithmatist. It's about a young boy and girl at a school for magic and they use chalk to defend against invaders." T

he young boy blinked owlishly at her. "....chalk?" 

Belle sat up straighter, placing a bookmark inside the pages to hold her place, and tucked the book back into her bag, nodding. "Oh yes, chalk! Chalk is magical in this world. You can draw anything and with the right kind of magic, that chalk creature--a chalking--will come to life and protect you!" 

The young boy thought for a moment, shuffling his feet. "Do you think that chalk can work like that in our world?" 

His voice was small, but his eyes held her, staring at her, hoping for a specific answer, she thought. "Hmm." She patted the bench next to her, inviting the boy to sit with her. He hesitated a moment before finally sitting, shrugging his backpack off. 

"I think," she started, carefully. "I think that if you wish it hard enough, and believe in it with everything in you, magic can be very real in this world. Don't you think?" 

The boy smiled, nodding knowingly. "Magic is in everything and everyone."

She laughed at the sage insight into the world from the child. "I think you're quite right..." Belle trailed off, not knowing the name of the boy before her. 

She'd lived in Storybrooke almost her whole life and she couldn't recall seeing this boy. Unusual for a small town... 

"Oh! I'm Bae. Baden Gold." He stuck out his small hand, chest puffed and proud. Belle took it, laughing. 

"Nice to meet you Bae." Belle lowered her voice and attempted a bit of a brogue a la Sean Connery. "I'm Belle, Belle French." Bae laughed at the impression, delighted. 

"My Papa watches those movies with me all the time!" 

His Papa. 

Belle wondered if his Papa was the same as Mr. Gold, the antique pawnbroker and landowner of Storybrooke. The most feared and respected man in town. 

Belle hadn't had much interaction with the man but had heard enough stories to make her pause before entering his shop, not to mention a legal contract with him. 

She opened her mouth, ready to ask if Bae was waiting for the bus as well and would he need someone to wait with him when a shiny Cadillac pulled up to the curb. Next to her, Bae perked up and grabbed his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder. 

"Papa!" 

Belle watched as Mr. Gold exited the car, straightening his suit and sunglasses while walking over to the pair of them. Belle hadn't had much experience with the opposite sex, had never really given much thought to what her type was.   
But judging from the sharp intake of breath and the clenching of her belly, Belle had a feeling that Mr. Gold was exactly her type. Dirty blonde and brown hair streaked with silver, the ends just brushing his shoulders. A sharp, stern mouth with a plump bottom lip. Lean, wiry body wrapped in an impeccably tailored suit. 

And the confidence. This was a man who knew he was in charge, knew he owned this town and could crush anyone in his path.

Mr. Gold had stopped just in front of Belle and Bae. He looked strangely out of place in this bus stop with newspapers on the ground and graffiti scratched into the walls of the bench covering. 

Belle stood awkwardly as Bae rushed his father, wrapping his arms around his waist. Mr. Gold’s face softened and his hand came up to rest on the crown of Bae’s head, ruffling his hair softly.   
“Alright, Bae?”

His voice was beautifully accented and Belle was almost swept away in the lyrical quality of his voice before realizing that Mr. Gold was regarding her carefully, sizing her up.

Belle moved to wipe her hand on her skirt and offer it up to shake when Bae laughed, “I’m alright, Papa. This is Belle French and she likes to read and watch James Bond.”  
She couldn’t see his eyes--still shaded by rather attractive sunglasses--but his eyebrow rose, appraising her. “Oh, does she? Well,” and Belle’s cheeks flushed as his voice lowered and he offered her his hand. “Nice to meet you Belle French.”  
Belle bit her lip, taking his hand. His hand was dry and calloused and his grip was firm. She maybe also noticed how well her hand fit in his, how it was enveloped completely.

“Nice to meet you as well.”

Bae stood between them, arms still wrapped around his Papa, grinning and looking from Belle to his father and back.

A loud, obnoxious honk alerted all of them that the Storybooke Red Line bus was trying to pull up to the stop, but Mr. Gold’s Cadillac was blocking its path. The driver, Leroy, a grumpy man, gestured rudely from behind the wheel. Gold’s smile turned sharp, shark-like and he turned slowly back towards Belle. 

“Pleasure to meet you, Miss French. But, as you can see, my son and I have to be going now, lest we bring the entire Storybrooke public transport to its knees.”

She giggled and waved him away, “It’s no problem. It was nice meeting you, as well. And you,” she turned to Bae. “I hope you stop by the library and pick up a copy of The Rithmatist. I think you’ll like it.”  
Another loud honk from Leroy. She watched as Mr. Gold’s cheek twitched.   
“Right then, come along, Bae.”

Bae waved goodbye and hurried after his father. “Papa! Do we have chalk at home?”  
Belle hid a giggle behind her hand as she heard Mr. Gold’s incredulous, “Whatever for?” and she happily climbed the stairs to the bus, bags slung over her shoulder and feeling happier than she had in a long time.


End file.
